Top 10 1970s Arcade Games

The 1970s was the golden age of the arcade industry and included such classics like Pong, Galaxian, Breakout and many more. Why not tell me your favourite arcade games of the 1970s in the comments section below and please like and subscribe as there will be plenty more Top 10 gaming countdowns on the way.

[@easygame7955]

"It was long ago and it was far away, and it was so much better than it is today" I'm so happy I lived it. :)

[@kramalerav]

Our minds are wired to remember good memories as being better than they actually.

[@matthewallenblack]

Still would've been ridiculously cool to be a kid when these games were coming out.

[@bigcoolviking]

I had a Galaxan 'ex rental' tabletop pub game as my kitchen table, in 1981-82 got it for £60, my Dad loved it too.

[@eternalnut]

Galaxian is by far my favorite. Not only is it so fun, but I just think the sounds and the way the aliens swoop down is so awesome. Also I strangely love Death Race.

[@horusplaysgames6384]

I was a big fan of asteroids, breakout and Space Invaders, but when I met Galaxian... That was it. Galaga was fun too, but I still miss Galaxian.

[@spaztekwarrior]

Was always impressed with Lunar Lander and the way the landscape zoomed in or panned out … made it feel larger and more epic than it was. Lots of fond 70s memories with many of these games.

[@oddities-whatnot]

Wow Galaxians, not seen that for years. That was a childhood favourite of mine on days out to the seaside. Thanks for upload.

[@nahzewilliams5912]

always loved that Galaxian sound....many good memories

[@LewisRowe-id6kr]

I remember Defender being massively popular too. Mind you, I think that was 1981. The sounds and the visual effects were spectacular, and they often had the volume pumped up nice and loud in the arcades. The gameplay was fast and furious. ...and of course notoriously hard.

[@musclesmouse]

I remember playing lunar lander at science museum in San Francisco. Loved the sub game at locals Fiesta mart. Also had many versions of the home pong and breakout/super breakout. Now I have Moon Alien cocktail. Love playing it.

[@huskyhooligans6713]

Defender, missile command and Galaxian is where my dinner money went 🙄

[@hopebgood]

I was really very, VERY good with Defender. Galaxian not so good and tbh I was rubbish with Missile Command.

[@bishopman2308]

Breakout was so addicting.

[@colinthomson7518]

brings back lots of memories

[@gouvyrock]

my all time favorite on arcade and atari 2600 is galaxian - masterpiece

[@chuckecheesewigglesfan9653]

I like the classic video games from the 70's and the 80's.

[@Spohcsom]

Just as the 80s video the No1 Space Invaders and No 2 Asteroids are correct. I remember seeing Space Invaders for the first time after going swimming and I was completely mesmerized as it was all new technology.

[@wizzgamer]

Thanks for watching glad it brought back happy memories 😊

[@davidwhaite3330]

Great Top 3 spot on, True classics ,

[@LITTLE1994]

3:09 Before Mortal Kombat, there was THIS. Death Race was a hated arcade back in 1976. They're very hard to find these days.

[@cyclenut]

I lived in a rural area and arcade games did not get there till around 79 or 80. It was the Table Tennis game. But the early 80s the bowling alley got Donkey Kong and Pac-Man.

[@harrycallahan3391]

Great vid pal and some nice nostalgia. Obviously Space Invaders set the benchmark for all arcade games to come, but still my favourite even to this day is Galaxian.. 😁

[@presidentsnow7315]

I'm glad that someone finally gave Radar Scope some love. I loved that game.

[@finisher3x]

I had never seen that Radar Scope game before. I would've played the hell out of that game as a young kid.

[@speedbird737]

Have most of these (including Lunar Lander and Sea Wolf!) on my AtLegends Arcade Ultimate machine! Lunar Lander had a cool thrust level on the original arcade machine. Oh with asteroids you're meant to leave a couple of asteroids flying around but not clear them - just keep shooting the spaceships/UFOs and get lots of points.

[@jgent70]

No Tailgunner? 1979. LOVED THAT GAME.

[@TheOneTrueSpLiT]

The true classics here, all "easy to play, but hard to master".

[@IsaacKuo]

The crazy thing about Space Invaders is how it is a deeper superior game than all the games it inspired. Galaga would set a new paradigm which emphasized memorization of enemy attack patterns. But the original Space Invaders had something the successors lacked - an excitement level that ramped up do to speeding up as the level progressed. You had to strategically plan how you were going to deal with that. The way the game made you think about the interaction of speedup and the width of the attacking formation ... you just didn't get any of that from Galaxian onward.

[@donovanweber6059]

That was/is a good observation and an intelligent assessment of the facts. Speaking of facts, the fact that we happen to be talking video games changes nothing!

[@sovietonion72]

Number 3 should be Number 1

[@barryguff6893]

I totally disagree. As an 8-year-old (born in 1970) I found Space Invaders to be totally slow, boring and repetitive. Galaxian, on the other hand, was far superior with its faster speed, random dive bombs, colors, and sounds. My friends and I always used to say how Galaxian was what Space Invaders wished it was. :) Like Space Invaders 2.0, if you will.

[@canalgamegenie]

I really liked the video. I played a lot of space invaders. Congratulations.

[@wizzgamer]

Game Genie Thanks :)

[@johnnyzippo7109]

Wow , yeah , I remember all but 2 of these cabinets in smoky pizza joints and gas stations , incredible , less was just more back then .

[@ClassicDOOM]

Good video, and nice selection of games. I think Sea Wolf may have been the first coin-op I ever played. I'd also suggest Space Wars (1977, Cinematronics), an improved Computer Space type game. It was 2-player only, unfortunately; but a lot of fun.

[@wizzgamer]

Classic Doom Thanks :)

[@timothysmith5111]

Space Wars was very fun

[@tony--james]

another game I saw often enough was Sprint 2 -1976 with the 2 steering wheels etc , it stood out

[@danielwilliamson6180]

If I owned a video arcade I'd call it "Arcadia's Gladiators".

[@nobodyuknow6337]

Kids these days "I'm not gonna play those dumb boring outdated games" Parents "Fine, you can do the dishes" Kid "Like I said, there's nothing like the classics...................how do I turn this thing on?"

[@toptenguy1]

#5 : "It attracted a great deal of controversy". Me : Sees it for the first time... " *YA THINK?!???!?* " LOL

[@dataripz]

Love Sea wolf back in the 70s. I was a natural then, now I can easilyget to the second block from the top on Stacker sometimes the top but there is something fishy about the last block.

[@mellowtube]

You know that your getting old, when you regularly played these when they first came out! 🤔☹️😋

[@afallin]

Searching for the name of a shooter game i used to, and loved, playing in the late 80s/90s. It was a galaxy shooter, but the background had constellations and we used to play the second version, so something II. Anyone?

[@LukesGamePage]

Class x Breakout is one of my favourites from this time. Had Alleyway on GB as a kid and didn't lnow it wasn't the original for ages

[@peterquinn8419]

The first game I played was pong when my parents would go to the pub they would give my Brother and I a pocket full of 20c pieces and we would sit at one of those coffee table machines and play pong sipping on cokes all day while my oldies got pissed.. I would have been perhaps 5 or 6 years old at the time. We then grew up with space invaders and asteroids and mastered them until the Atari came out which was just the ants pants in gaming at the time. Im 52 now and still play console with my sons. Never too old.

[@peterquinn8419]

@@retrospectivej5718 There are 2 games Im right into at the moment. One is a game called Generation Zero. Its a lesser known game but I think hugely missed. Sort of game you can sit there grinding on for hours. The other one is Conan Age of War. Its more a survival type game. I know there is still a place for the old retro games I grew up on but games of today I do think are so much better than in my day. I still get a mind blow when I think that I am actually playing a game in real time with other people who are on the other side of the planet while also being able to talk to them at the same time. The world has got so much more advanced and games certainly have kept up with the ride. I also play or have played things like GTA, 7 days to die, Need for speed and used to love all the Zombie games from the Black Ops set. I even loved the one that had the zombie one called I think Colosseum. What about yourself? What games do you like and play?

[@jonskitch8082]

Galaxian!

[@anonymousidea9119]

Asteroids is #1! Space Invaders, Pong, and Breakout are classics

[@tristar1908]

I love computer space 1:55 1971 best year ever

[@leslauner5062]

I played all of these, except the Lunar Lander one, which I never saw....

[@mrp5169]

Lunar Rescue, Defender and Phoenix my favs💥💥

[@deltabilly1]

Takes me back

[@kieranstark7213]

The only problem with these games isn’t because if how dated they are (if anything, they’re actually TIMELESS), but because half of these games (except for Galaxian (which might as well be the predecessor of Galaga and like Pac-Man and Klonoa, Galaga is a gaming series that makes Namco a really underrated gaming company compared to the likes of Nintendo and Sega), Pong, Breakout and Space Invaders, which are also timeless!) are too underrated for their own good.

[@pez334]

I liked all those games but I would have to have a top 15 to include starship1, Boot Hill ,star fire ,space wars and star hawk, and I was surprised that none of the driving games where there like lemans or fire truck or night driver just to name a few

[@rustycagechannel]

Great video.

[@wizzgamer]

Canal Win Thanks buddy :)

[@DerhamPaul-vo8fr]

It's all I had as a kid

[@Captain-Cosmo]

Pong defined the 70s, and Breakout (and its variations) were merely variations of it. Asteroids was built on the Lunar Lander platform and totally overshadowed Space Invaders. Galaxian was popular, but was considered more difficult. We all preferred Galaga when it came out. Tempest is not mentioned in this or the 80s video, but it was an important game that doesn't get enough mention.

[@SM853]

Completely unrelated, but what's the name of the song at the end of the video (6:07)?

[@Jmacx9]

2020 now,these bring back a flood of memories of a great time in American history.Very good post

[@reclusivehermitwithalongbu3767]

My favorite was Space Invaders & then Galaxians. I never liked Asteroids.

[@SmashCatRandom]

3:37 It was actually written by Steve Wozniac - Jobs' co-founder of Apple. Jobs actually conned Woz by telling him he was only getting paid a small amount for the game, and paid him half that amount, when Woz actually designed all of the hardware and wrote the entire game himself. Jobs did literally nothing. Woz found out that Jobs had stiffed him years later.

[@cameronpickard7456]

lunar lander was outta this world back then

[@jang6969]

Space Invaders at 7 11 all night long! 👍

[@highgreen6452]

I've just bought a bar top arcade machine I can't keep off galaxian 800 points for 2 reds and a yellow whoosh

[@youtubeiscool2693]

My childhood

[@justfuntimedoingnothing8477]

Computer Space is freaking me out

[@giuliannegualbertoteles6281]

Space invaders at first place ? Like, of course.

[@the-notorius]

Can you pliz make top 10 16bit open world games.Awesome video

[@wizzgamer]

Rep tail Studio Thanks I will make a Top 10 16-bit open world games sometime in the future.

[@the-notorius]

@@wizzgamer thanks

[@HARDcorp]

FACT: Death race is one of the first ever video games to include screaming

[@isaaccuenca3429]

I have played them all. If you mastered the Lunar Lander, you could include it in your resume to join NASA.

[@nickpellatt]

Lunar Lander was very difficult for me, cant remember ever landing. I would have been about 8 years old tho

[@isaaccuenca3429]

@@nickpellatt I never got it either XDXD. I would have about 10.

[@jamessullivan4391]

It was harder than shit. More sophisticated than games of its time. I would play It now.

[@inefekt]

Easy guess for #1, the all time classic

[@paulinajasinska8248]

You were playing the labyrinth zone theme at the start

[@user-vs7yj1yq9k]

I have seen that Atari is now also active in other areas. Has anyone ever read or found out anything about it?

[@celinesenden4142]

44 anniversary of space invaders

[@currentphonograph7487]

I can get extra life & six flags on Galaxian

[@rodrigohernandez1345]

Era como vivir un momento en rayos X ......🥺

[@grantorino2325]

1:30 Let me see whether I can trade some folded movie posters for that game!

[@celinesenden4142]

50 anniversary of pong

[@braxtonpierce8768]

Can't believe i forgot about super breakout. That was one of my favorites

[@lunes-1]

I really loved this game.could anyone please tell me,the cheapest way possible how I could get it and what game console vintage to buy.thanks

[@harrycallahan3391]

I would say the vintage Atari console would get you as close to some of the games shown here..

[@lunes-1]

@@harrycallahan3391 thanks.will look at it🤗

[@possibilitytv5652]

Time Traveler - The World’s first 3D holographic Video Game 30th anniversary celebration on December 10, 2021 At the Boulder Oaks Golf Club 10333 Meadow Glen Way E Escondido, CA Come celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime event filled with excitement & hear stories told by those who created, performed and helped develop the world’s first 3D holographic video game. 7:00 pm - 2:00 a.m. Live band performances by: 7 Seconds to Vegas and Jim Gibson Time to celebrate!

[@justworkingfortheweekend8504]

I imagine arcades during this time were a license to make money

[@santiagobaras4893]

Name of track pls

[@brianlondon5967]

Music at the start sounded more like mid eighties Nintendo.

[@GameTheroy]

wizzgamer, i'm afraid you're incorrect with radar scope. That game was released in 1980, not 1979. You probably don't care though, because you might have already known that.

[@mwmiddleton]

I figured I'd correct some history of breakout. Steve Jobs only involvement, was he had another dude named Steve Wozniak, that was the genius hardware and software engineer that actually built breakout when it was all done in circuitry and jobs lied to him stating he would split the '$800' Atari payed him for when it was really $8000. Jobs was a douche and Woz was the real genius behind Apple, and a classic little video game named Breakout.

[@luchoalzu4408]

Galaxian the best! 1

[@MrBruh281]

1. Space Invaders

[@chrisharrison83]

☝️ HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN YEAH THE COACH FREED IT ALRIGHT THE POLTERGEIST DIDN'T HE !!!!

[@lookingforahookup]

4:25 resembles galaga

[@winddmmy]

where's tank commander?

[@jockmctodger]

How about that Pong hey

[@musicstudios4418]

Atari apparently brings out a crypto currency or it is already on the market. Did anyone notice anything about it?

[@wumpusthehunted2628]

You might get a better game for your quarter from the mechanical sea devil game than the video sea would game s version).hown. There were a lot of examples in Rheobeth(so?) DE around 198 (including what must have been customized extra large units). Not sure we need computer space and pong, but what do you replace them with? Boot Hill or night driver (early 3dish driving game. So early the 2600 port closely resembles the arcade version).

[@unstableordinance]

You can tell the footage was taken from MAME and not from a cabinet. For example, the asteroids game looks totally different on cabinet then on MAME, with the shots glowing, and their being an outline on all objects on the screen when moving. Not a negative, its best to see that actual footage as opposed to the emulated version to see what it was really like

[@Kikunosuke777]

Need help with the title of an F1 arcade game in the 80's, it's a top down racing game like Road Fighter but probably much older and it's back and white as far as I remember. In the arcade you play it with a steering wheel and one gas pedal. The arcades here used to lined up with these in the 80's, can't believe that I can't even find a photo of it in Google image.

[@tastetherainbow9643]

Gran Trak 10 perhaps

[@ronch550]

Death race attracted controversy?? So even back then i guess there were already those who complained about everything.

[@smokinhalf]

gunfight

[@heavenandearth6896]

I didn't know that there was arcade games in the 70s thought it was only for 80s and 90s

[@MrBruh281]

Sahra Somaliland dumbass